Cities, counties want chance to argue against Supreme Court ruling

Others trying to get into the dispute include the Oklahoma State School Boards Association and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

Lawyers for the School Boards Association raise the specter of more — and more costly — lawsuits over allegations of excessive force in disciplining students. They suggest students could bring constitutional claims saying they had been assaulted or molested by teachers or administrators.

School districts could be exposed to “lawsuits with no cap on damages. This could be financially devastating to school districts, and particularly devastating to taxpayers who would ultimately pay any judgment rendered through ad valorem tax assessments.”

But without the protection provided by the Supreme Court decision, citizens such as Bosh lack a state remedy for brutal treatment by jailers, said Brady Henderson, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma.

The Constitution ought to protect Oklahomans from being beaten by jailers, he said: “We think that there's a narrow but important class of civil rights violations that could happen with relative impunity.”

A spokesman said the Supreme Court cannot comment on pending matters. Henderson said he'd expect a decision within a few months.

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OU and Norman High School graduate, formerly worked as a reporter and editor for the Associated Press, the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, and the Norman Transcript. Married, two children, lives in Norman.